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Chelidae

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Description

The Chelidae are one of three living families of the turtle suborder Pleurodira and are commonly called the Austro-South American side-neck turtles. The family is distributed in Australia, New Guinea, parts of Indonesia, and throughout most of South America. It is a large family of turtles with a significant fossil history dating back to the Cretaceous. The family is entirely Gondwanan in origin, with no members found outside Gondwana, either in the present day or as a fossil.

From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelidae, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Source Data

Source	ID	Link
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)	9120	https://www.gbif.org/species/9120
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)	37609	https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=37609

Rank

family (GBIF)
unranked clade (PBDB)

Taxonomy (GBIF,PBDB)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Testudines : Chelidae

Taxonomic Status (GBIF)

accepted

Classification
(PBDB,GBIF)

Rank	Name	Author
-	Eukaryota
-	Opisthokonta	Cavalier-Smith 1987
kingdom	Animalia
-	Triploblastica	Lankester 1877
-	Nephrozoa	Jondelius et al. 2002
-	Deuterostomia	Grobben 1908
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1847
subphylum	Vertebrata	Lamarck 1801
superclass	Gnathostomata	Gegenbauer 1874
-	Osteichthyes
-	Sarcopterygii	Romer 1955
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha
-	Tetrapoda
-	Reptiliomorpha	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Anthracosauria	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Batrachosauria
-	Cotylosauria
-	Amniota	Haeckel 1866
-	Sauropsida	Huxley 1864
class	Reptilia	Laurenti 1768
-	Testudinata
order	Testudines	Batsch 1788
suborder	Pleurodira	Cope 1865
-	Panchelidae	Joyce et al. 2004
family	Chelidae	Gray 1825

Scientific Name

Chelidae

Opinions (PBDB)

Name	Rank	Opinion	Evidence	Author
Chelidae	family	belongs to Pleurodira	stated with evidence	Kuhn, 1966
Chelidae	family	belongs to Pleurodira	stated without evidence	Gaffney, 1975
Chelidae	family	belongs to Pleurodira	implied	Carroll, 1988
Chelidae	family	belongs to Testudines	stated without evidence	Frank and Ramus, 1996
Chelidae	family	belongs to Eupleurodira	stated with evidence	de la Fuente and Iturralde-Vinent, 2001
Chelidae	family	belongs to Pleurodira	stated without evidence	Lapparent de Broin and Molnar, 2001
Chelidae	family	belongs to Pleurodira	stated with evidence	de la Fuente and Bona, 2002
Chelidae	family	belongs to Pleurodira	stated without evidence	Joyce et al., 2004
Chelidae	family	belongs to Cheloides	stated with evidence	Gaffney et al., 2006
Chelidae	family	belongs to Pleurodira	stated with evidence	Thomson and Georges, 2009
Chelidae	family	belongs to Pleurodira	stated without evidence	van Dijk et al., 2014
Chelidae	unranked clade	belongs to Panchelidae	stated with evidence	Maniel and de la Fuente, 2016

Status (PBDB)

extant

Taxon Size (PBDB)

123

Extant Size (PBDB)

102 (83%)

First Recorded Appearance

140 - 136 Ma
Early/Lower Cretaceous

Environment

freshwater

Motility

actively mobile (based on Osteichthyes)

Diet

piscivore

Reproduction

oviparous

Ecospace Comments

life habit and diet based on Uetz 2005; originally entered from Ernst and Barbour 1989 as carnivore-piscivore

Taphonomy

phosphatic (based on Vertebrata)

Primary Reference (PBDB)

W. A. Lindholm. 1929. Revidiertes Verzeichnis der Gattungen der rezenten Schildkröten nebst Notizen zur Nomenklatur einiger Arten. Zoologischer Anzeiger 81:275-272

Common Name(s)

Snake-necked Turtles, Austro-american Side-necked Turtles

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelidae

External Images

Subtaxa

Name	Status	Common Name(s)	Fossil Occurrences	Oldest	Youngest
Chelinae subfamily	listed (PBDB)				0 Ma Extant
Chelodininae subfamily	listed (PBDB)				0 Ma Extant
Hydromedusinae subfamily	listed (PBDB)				0 Ma Extant
Acanthochelys genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		2	13.8 Ma Miocene	0 Ma Extant
Birlimarr ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	16.0 Ma Miocene	16.0 Ma Miocene
Bonapartemys ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	99.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	99.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Chelodina genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		8	66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	0 Ma Extant
Chelus genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		16	48.6 Ma Eocene	0 Ma Extant
Elseya genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		3	5.33 Ma Miocene	0 Ma Extant
Elusor genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)				0 Ma Extant
Emydura genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		7	66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	0 Ma Extant
Flaviemys genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	Manning River Sawshelled Turtle			0 Ma Extant
Hydraspis genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)				0 Ma Extant
Hydromedusa genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		12	66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	0 Ma Extant
Linderochelys ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	89.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	89.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Lomalatachelys ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	86.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	86.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Mendozachelys ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	83.5 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	83.5 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Mesoclemmys genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)				0 Ma Extant
Myuchelys genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	0.01 Ma Pleistocene	0 Ma Extant
Palaeophrynops ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	83.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	83.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Pelocomastes genus	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Phrynops genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		8	23.0 Ma Miocene	0 Ma Extant
Platemys genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	140 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous	0 Ma Extant
Prochelidella ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		5	125 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous	93.5 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Pseudemydura genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)				0 Ma Extant
Rheodytes genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	2.59 Ma Pleistocene	0 Ma Extant
Rhinemys genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)				0 Ma Extant
Rionegrochelys ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	89.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	89.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Salamanchelys ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		2	66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Yaminuechelys ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		13	83.5 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous

Obsolete Names

Name	Source	Taxon Rank	Taxonomy
Chelymys arata De Vis, 1897	GBIF	species	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Testudines : Chelidae : *Chelymys arata*
Platemys robusta Ambrosetti, 1893	GBIF	species	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Testudines : Chelidae : *Platemys robusta*
Naiadochelys patagonica (Staesche, 1929)	GBIF	species	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Testudines : Chelidae : *Naiadochelys patagonica*
Platemys holmbergii Ambrosetti, 1893	GBIF	species	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Testudines : Chelidae : *Platemys holmbergii*
Pelecomastes ampla De Vis, 1897	GBIF	species	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Testudines : Chelidae : *Pelecomastes ampla*
Platemys bergii Ambrosetti, 1893	GBIF	species	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Testudines : Chelidae : *Platemys bergii*
Chelymys antiqua De Vis, 1897	GBIF	species	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Testudines : Chelidae : *Chelymys antiqua*
Platemys torrentium Burmeister, 1885	GBIF	species	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Testudines : Chelidae : *Platemys torrentium*
Platemys mesopotamica Ambrosetti, 1893	GBIF	species	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Testudines : Chelidae : *Platemys mesopotamica*
Platemys entreriana Ambrosetti, 1893	GBIF	species	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Testudines : Chelidae : *Platemys entreriana*
Trionyx argentina Ameghino, 1889	GBIF	species	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Testudines : Chelidae : *Trionyx argentina*
Najadochelys patagonica (Staesche, 1929)	GBIF	species	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Testudines : Chelidae : *Najadochelys patagonica*

Synonymy List

Year	Name and Author
1825	Chelidae Gray
1829	Najadochelys patagonica Staesche
1868	Hydraspididae Cope
1869	Chelydidae Gray pp. 613
1871	Chelydidae Cope p. 236
1871	Hydraspididae Cope p. 236
1875	Chelydidae Cope p. 17
1875	Hydraspididae Cope p. 17
1885	Platemys torrentium Burmeister
1889	Trionyx argentina Ameghino
1893	Platemys bergii Ambrosetti
1893	Platemys entreriana Ambrosetti
1893	Platemys holmbergii Ambrosetti
1893	Platemys mesopotamica Ambrosetti
1893	Platemys robusta Ambrosetti
1897	Chelymys antiqua De Vis
1897	Chelymys arata De Vis
1897	Pelecomastes ampla De Vis
1898	Chelydidae Gadow p. 21

Year	Name and Author
1911	Chelyidae Jaekel p. 186
1929	Naiadochelys patagonica Staesche
1934	Chelydidae Rusconi p. 32
1934	Hydraspis arenarius Rusconi p. 32 figs. Fig. 6
1946	Chelydae Kuhn p. 58
1953	Chelyidae Stirton p. 613
1966	Chelidae Kuhn p. 31
1975	Chelidae Gaffney p. 429
1987	Chelidae de Broin p. 134
1988	Chelidae Carroll
1996	Chelidae Frank and Ramus
2001	Chelidae Lapparent de Broin and Molnar
2001	Chelidae de la Fuente and Iturralde-Vinent
2002	Chelidae de la Fuente and Bona p. 78
2004	Chelidae Joyce et al.
2006	Chelidae Gaffney et al. p. 33
2009	Chelidae Thomson and Georges
2014	Chelidae van Dijk et al.
2016	Chelidae Maniel and de la Fuente

References

Lindholm W. A. (1929) Revidiertes Verzeichnis der Gattungen der rezenten Schildkröten nebst Notizen zur Nomenklatur einiger Arten, Zoologischer Anzeiger 81, 275-272

Cope E. D. On the origin of genera, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 20, 242-300

Cope E. D. On the homologies of some of the cranial bones of the Reptilia, and on the systematic arrangement of the class, Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 19, 194-247

Cope E. D. Check-list of North American Batrachia and Reptilia; with a systematic list of the higher groups, and an essay on geographical distribution. Based on the specimens contained in the U. S. National Museum, Bulletin of the United States National Museum 1, 1-109

Ameghino F. Sinopsis geológico-paleontológica. Suplemento (adi- ciones y correcciones), 1-13

Ambrosetti J. Contribución al estudio de las tortugas oligocenas de los terrenos terciarios antiguos del Paraná, Boletín del Instituto Geográfico Argentino 14, 489-499

Gadow H. , A Classification of Vertebrata Recent and Extinct, xvii-82

Jaekel O. (1911) , Die Wirbeltiere. Eine Übersicht über die Fossilen und Lebenden Formen [The Vertebrates. An Overview of the Fossil and Living Forms], viii-252

Staesche K. (1929) Schildkrötenreste aus der oberen Kreide Patagoniens, Palaeontographica 72, 103-112

Rusconi C. (1934) Tercera noticia sobre los vertebrados fosiles de las Arenas Puelchenses de Villa Ballester, Anales de la Socieded Cientifica Argentina 117, 19-37

Kuhn O. (1946) Das System der fossilen und rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien [The system of fossil and recent amphibians and reptiles], Bericht der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Bamberg 29, 49-67

Stirton R. A. (1953) Vertebrate paleontology and continental stratigraphy in Colombia, Geological Society of America Bulletin 64, 603-622

Kuhn O. W. M. (1966) , Die Reptilien. System und Stammesgeschichte [The Reptiles. Systematics and Phylogeny.], 1-154

Gaffney E. S. (1975) A phylogeny and classification of the higher categories of turtles, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 155 5, 387-436

de Broin F. (1987) The Late Cretaceous fauna of Los Alamitos, Patagonia, Argentina part IV—Chelonia, Revista del Museo Argentina de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" e Instituto Nacional de Investigacion de las Ciencias Naturales: Paleontología 3 3, 131-139

Carroll R. L. (1988) , Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, 1-698

Frank N., Ramus E. (1996) A Complete Guide to Scientific and Common Names of Reptiles and Amphibians of the World, 1-377

Lapparent de Broin F., Molnar R. E. (2001) Eocene chelid turtles from Redbank Plains, Southeast Queensland, Geodiversitas 23 1, 41-79

de la Fuente M. S., Iturralde-Vinent M. (2001) A new pleurodiran turtle from the Jagua Formation (Oxfordian) of western Cuba, Journal of Paleontology 75 4, 860-869

de la Fuente M. S., Bona P. (2002) Una nueva especie del género Hydromedusa Wagler (Pleurodira, Chelidae) del Paleógeno de Patagonia, Ameghiniana 39 1, 77-83

Joyce W. G., Parham J. F., et al (2004) Developing a protocol for the conversion of rank-based taxon names to phylogenetically defined clade names, as exemplified by turtles, Journal of Paleontology 78 5, 989-1013

Gaffney E. S., Tong H., et al (2006) Evolution of the side-necked turtles: The families Bothremydidae, Euraxemydidae, and Araripemydidae, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 300, 1-318

Thomson S., Georges A. (2009) Myuchelys gen. nov. —a new genus for Elseya latisternum and related forms of\r\nAustralian freshwater turtle (Testudines: Pleurodira: Chelidae), Zootaxa 2053, 32-42

van Dijk P. P., Iverson J. B., et al (2014) Turtles of the World, 7th edition: annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution with maps, and conservation status, Chelonian Research Monographs 5, 329-479

Maniel I. J., de la Fuente M. S. (2016) A Review of the Fossil Record of Turtles of the Clade Pan-Chelidae, Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 57 2, 191-227

Benton, M.J. (ed). (1993). The Fossil Record 2. Chapman & Hall, London, 845 pp. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Parker, S.P. (ed). (1982). Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms. McGraw-Hill, New York. 2 volumes. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Turtle Taxonomy Working Group [van Dijk, P. P., J. Iverson, A. Rhodin, H. Shaffer, and R. Bour], 2014: Turtles of the World, 7th Edition: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution with maps, and Conservation Status. Chelonian Research Monographs, no. 5, v. 7. 329-479. - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)

King, F. W., and R. L. Burke, eds., 1989: null. Crocodilian, Tuatara, and Turtle Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)

Iverson, John B., 1992: null. A Revised Checklist with Distribution Maps of the Turtles of the World. xiii + 363. - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)

Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!

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